Kadhi Pakoda

Few things mean home as much as Kadhi pakoda. This simple, uber delicious curry has been such a staple throughout my childhood. Whether it was post school lunches, lazy Sunday meals, scrumptious lunches at friends’ houses – you name it, Kadhi pakoda has been a part of it.

Kadhi has been one of my go-to comfort meals for years. Even when I started cooking for myself this was one of the first things I tried. I’ve made it many times over the years and think that now it’s a pretty yum recipe 🙂 The husband is a fan too and now so many evenings are spent watching Netflix and wolfing down Kadhi Chawal!

The typical Punjabi way of making the pakodas (fritters) is with onions , spices and besan (gram flour). However, being from a non Punjabi household, we did things a little differently 🙂 For us, the pakodas were always just besan and spices together. These gave little light, crunchy on the outside soft on the inside pillows of spiced goodness. A marvellous partner for the tangy yoghurt curry.

Watch them carefully as they fry, you don’t want to brown them too much since that makes them a little too crispy with a burnt-ish taste. Golden brown on both sides and you’re good to go. Our help at home used to make them into almost perfect circles, but as you can see, I’m not very good with shapes. So go forth, have fun with the shapes!

As long as they have enough space to cook well and crisp up and you’re using a rounded pan, all is well 🙂 When I’m feeling more healthy, I skip the pakodas (yes, blasphemy I know!). The curry still tastes damn good by itself 🙂

The kadhi batter is super easy, just a few basic ingredients. The yoghurt makes it nice and tangy while the besan helps to thicken the curry while adding flavour. The spices, onions, curry leaves give it that characteristic kadhi taste. We also make sure we always cook it in mustard oil – bonus flavour 🙂

Dunk the hot pakodas in when the curry is ready and just cook for a few minutes. Serve hot with rice. Happiness guaranteed! 🙂

Directions

Mix together the ingredients for the pakodas. You will have a thick batter. Heat oil in a round bottom pan (enough for shallow frying).

Once the oil is hot, drop spoonfuls of the batter into the oil and cook till golden brown on both sides. Turn after a few seconds to ensure it doesn’t get too hot and burn. Make sure there is enough space between the pakodas while frying.

Take the pakodas out of the pan and place on a paper tissue to absorb any excess oil. Repeat for all the batter.

In a bowl, prepare the kadhi batter. Mix the yoghurt, gram flour, salt, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and water till you get a smooth, pourable batter.